Wednesday, May 10, 2017

Saga Sells 2 TV Stations, Buys Radio In South Carolina

Saga Communications, Inc. announced today that it has entered into an agreement with Evening Telegram Company d/b/a Morgan Murphy Media to sell the Company’s television stations in the Joplin, MO – Pittsburg, KS and the Victoria, TX television markets for an aggregate purchase price of approximately $66.6 million.

The Company also assigned to SagamoreHill Midwest, LLC its options to acquire the assets owned by Surtsey Media, LLC and used in the operation of KVCT in the Victoria, TX market and KFJX in the Pittsburg, KS market.

Ed Christian

Edward K. Christian, President and Chief Executive Officer of the Company said, “We’ve had the great pleasure of owning KOAM in Joplin since 1994 and KAVU in Victoria since 1999. It has been a great experience for us to serve both communities with terrific television stations that focused heavily on the local markets. We made a very difficult decision that with all the changes taking place in the television industry that it was time for us to return to our roots in radio.”

The Company also announced the purchase the assets of:

Country WCKN 92.5 FM

AC WMXZ 95.9 FM

UrbanAC WXST 99.7 FM

AdultHits WAVF Chuck 101.7 FF

Sports WSPO 1390 AM

Translators W261DG and W257BQ

All are serving the Charleston, SC radio market, in Hilton Head and Beauford SC, Saga is acquiring:

AdultHits WVSC 103,1 FM

Classic Hits WLHH 104.9 FM

HotAC WALI 93.7 FM

Translators: W256CB and W293BZ.

The stations are being acquired from Apex Media Corporation for $23.0 million.

Edward K. Christian, President and Chief Executive Officer of the Company, said, “The Charleston stations are heritage radio stations that are very tightly focused on serving their local communities. Southern Living Magazine named Charleston the South’s Best City. The Hilton Head/Beaufort stations serve a regional market that will give us very strong development opportunities. Southern Living Magazine named Beaufort the South’s Best Small Town. We look forward to working with the existing staff to continue to serve these growing communities with great radio stations. Saga intends to continue building its business in radio by continuing to identify and acquire middle market stations.”

Saga expects to close both transactions, subject to the approval of the Federal Communications Commission, in September, 2017.